Process of making pictures.



N0. 69|,l38. Patented Jan. 14, 1902. B. HAWLEY.

PROCESS OF MAKING PICTURES.

. (Application filed Sept. 18,- 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES .aTnT F B ENJAM IN. HAVVLEY, O E PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MAKING PICTURES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,138, dated January14, 1902.

Application filed September 13, 1901. Serial No. 75,308. (No specimens.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN IIAWLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Processes of Making Pictures, of which the followingis aspecification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in processes for makingetchings or engravings, having for its object the provision of a methodwhereby a surface may be engraved directly from an object sought to bepictured with any desired degree of detail,

and from this surface any desired number of prints or impressions may besecured. This object I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspectiveview representing one form of apparatus constructed to be used incarrying out myimproved process; and Fig. 2 is a sectional view, on anenlarged scale, of a plate of glass, showing one of its faces coatedwith gelatin.

In the above drawings, A is a tripod-head having depending lugs a, towhich are pivoted legs a, forming a tripod of ordinary form.

A is a plate screwed to the head A and carrying a bar 13, pivoted to itso as to be free to turn in a horizontal plane. This bar projects onboth sides of the head A and has an arm-rest B extending at right anglesto it and rigidly fastened to the plate A. One end of the bar B carriesan eyepiece b, which is vertically adjustable on'a rod b, this latteralso being capable of adjustment in a horizontal line toward or from thetripod and having means provided forlocking these parts in any positionto which they are adjusted. Pivoted to the opposite end of the bar 13isa frame 0, constructed to hold a transparent plate D-- of glass, forexample-and having its sides preferably adjustable, so that it may bemade to accommodate varying sizes of plates. The said plate D is coatedwith a relatively thin film d of some transparent substance-such asgelatin, as shown in Fig. 2, collodion, or the likein which it ispossible to out or grave with a suitable tool.

In carrying out my process with this apparatus the tripod, with itsframe and eyepiece, is set up so as to be in the proper position withrelation to an object which it is desired to picture, and the linesnecessary for a representation of the same are engraved on the plate D,the various features of shading, detail, 850., being engraved upon theplate as indicated to the eye of the operator looking through theeyepiece b.

It will be noted that as soon as the relative positions of the object tobe sketched and the eye of the observer are fixed it is possible to drawor grave with great accuracy upon the prepared surface of the plate D,by this means obtaining direct from the object a drawing practicallyperfect as toperspective and detail. The plate so engraved is thenremoved from the frame and inked, the ink entering the engraved lines inthe manner well known to the art, any number of prints being takentherefrom in the wellknown way.

The plate or backing D is preferably of glass or other transparentsubstance, and in covering one of its faces with a film of material uponwhich it is desired to engrave 1 usually employ a transparentpreparation of gelatin, the same being mixed with suitable substances toharden it to overcome its tendency to swell and change shape under thevariations of the atmospheric temperature and moisture.

It will be seen that by my process I am enabled to make engravingsdirect from nature in a way not hitherto possible, and from theseengravings to produce proofs, pictures, or prints practically perfect asto perspective and with an amount of shading and detail dependingentirely upon the will of the operator. It will also be noted that theprocess as a whole is an exceedingly simple one, it being possible for aperson totally without artistic education to make excellent pictures andthat with but little practice.

It will be noted that I do not confine my self to any particular form ofapparatus for carrying out my improved process, for it may beconsiderably modified without departing from my invention, the essentialfeature of which consists in graving upon a transparent film carriedupon a suitable backing, also transparent, an object seen through thesame and printing pictures from the engraving so obtained.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that it is possible tosecure prints from my engraved plates otherwise than by inking, as,it'desired,the plate finished may be subjected to treatment which willdarken or render the lines thereon partially or wholly opaque,photographic prints being produced from the negative so formed in thewellknow way.

I claim'as my invention 1. The process of producing a picture, saidprocess consisting of locating a transparent plate between the object tobe copied and the eye, said plate being distant from both the object andthe eye, and engraving the image of said object upon the said plate toform a negative and taking an impression from saidnegative,substantiallyas described.

2. The herein-described process of producing a picture, the sameconsisting of mounting atransparent plate some distance in front of thebody to be copied, locating the eye of the operator at a fixed pointsome distance in front of the plate, whereby saidobject is seen throughsaid plate in perfect perspective, etching the surface of said plate onthe lines of the object seen therethrough, and printing from saidetching, substantially as described.

The herein-described process ofproducing drawings direct from an object,the same consistingin graving on a film of a transparent gelatinoussubstance carried upon a plate of glass, the image of said object seenwhen the same is observed bylooking through the plate from a fixedpoint, said plate being placed at a distance from both the object andthe eye of the observer, applying ink to the lines so produced andmaking a print from the same, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

' BENJAMIN HAWVLEY. Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. BRADLEY,

J os. I-I. KLEIN.

